Improved lubricator



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JOHN R. SEES., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

liVlPROVED LUBRICATOR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,433, dated October27, 1863; antedated October 10, 1863.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. SEES, of the city of Philadelphia, in theState of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved GreaseCup forLubricating the Valves of Locomotives and other Steam-Engines, and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this speciiication, said drawings representinga central vertical section of the cup.

This invention consists in a novel system of valves applied incombination with a tube occupying a iixed position within the cup,whereby every time the steam is shut off from the engine a certainaccurately regulated or measured quantity of grease, and no more, isautomatically supplied to the steam-chest by being displaced bycondensed steam, thus insu ring proper lubrication of the valve as oftenas and at the very time required without any waste.

It also consists in furnishing the cup with an independent screw socket,which enables it to be adapted to any steam-chest without putting thecup in a lathe to cut a screwthread upon its bottom.

To enable others to make and use my invention I will proceed to describeits construction and operation.

A B C is the body of the cup, represented as composed of a thickcylinder, B, of glass, and a bottom, A, and top C of brass, but it maybe made entirely of brass. The parts A, B, and C are held together bymeans of a central tube, D, and nut a, the central tube screwing tightlyinto a hole in the bottom A, and passing through a fixed bridge, b,formed across the top C, and the nut c being screwed onto the tube abovethe bridge?) and brought down tight upon the bridge. A vulcanizedindia-rubber or other soft packing, c, is used between A, C, and B. rIhel top C is iitted with a movable cap, E, to provide for the tilling ofthe cup with oil or tallow.

F and G are two valves connected by a stem, ci, passing through the tubeD, one fitted to a conical seat in the bottoni A of the cup and closingin an upward direction, and the other' to provide for its beinglengthened or shortened, and thereby regulating the amount of movementof the valves. The lower valve, F, tits perfectly tight to its seat whenclosed; but the seat of the upper valve is notched, as shown at f f, sothat the said valve is never perfectly closed, its duty being to serveas a stop to regulate the opening movement of the lower valve, and toprevent the oil or tallow from running into the tube D, as it is beingpoured into the cup, and were it not required to serve the latterpurpose, the upper part of the stem might be simply furnished with lugsor have a pin inserted transversely throughit as a substitute for theupper valve.

H is a valve, which I call the atmospheric-7 valve, tted into the cap E,and closing with an upward movement. This valve has astop, g, at the topof its stem to limit its opening movement; but the top of the cap is sonotched externally, as shown at h h, that the said stop does not closethe opening therein when the valve drops.

I is a cock in the bottom of the cup for emptying it.

E is a socket, which has screwed into it a nozzle, t, provided on thebottom A of the cup, and which is itself provided with a nozzle`, j,screwed into a tapped hole in the steamchest or steam-chest cover J.

To set the cup in operation, it is iilled with oil or tallow up to thelevel of the top of the tube D. While the steam-chest is open to theboiler and filled with steam, the pressure of the steam keeps the valveF closed; but the valve His kept open by the pressure of the atmosphereaided by its own weight. Whenever,in the running of the engine,the steamis shut off from the steam-chest, the valve F is opened by the pressureofthe atmosphere aided by its own weight and the weight of the stem dVand valve G. When steam is again admitted to the steam-chest it closesthe valve F again; but before it can close the valve some escapesthrough the tube D into the upper part of the cup and closes the valveH, which prevents its escape from the cup. This steam, being shut intothe cup by the closing of the valve, soon condenses, and the water ofcondensation sinks below the grease which iioats on its surface andrises above the level of the tube D, down which it flows by gravitation,remaining in the said tube, or the passage in the bottom A belowit,until the steam is again shut off, When the valve F being againopened the grease runs into the steam-chest. The valve H opens when thesteam has been condensed, or partially condensed, in the upper part ofthe cup, and so admits the pressure of the atmosphere upon the grease atall times but While the steam is uncondensed in the cup, itbeingdesirable to catch or trap all the steam admitted to the cup, as it isbythe Water resulting from' the condensation of suoli steam that thegrease is raised above the level of and caused to flow into the tube D.lf, in the ordinary running of the engine, the steam is not shut oftI asoften as it is desirable to lubricate the valve, the lubrication may beeffected by simply shutting off and letting on the steam again'veryquickly. The quantity of oil supplied at a time is regulated by thequantity of steam admitted to the cup, and this is regulated by theamount of movement permitted to the Valves F G by the adjustment oftheir stem at e, a longer movement not allowing the valve F to close soquickly when steam is admitted to the steam-chest, and so Aallowing moresteam to pass into the cup and a shorter movement allowing the saidvalve to close more quickly and less steam to pass into the cup. greaseremains in the cup, the grease iioating on the top of the water as thecup fills up with the latter. When all the grease is out, which may beeasily seen when the body B of the cup is made of glass, the Water isdrawn off by opening the cock I, and the cup is refilled with grease bytaking off the cap E, and pouring itin.

The independent screw-socket J enables the This operation continues solong as any n cup to be adapted to any steam-chest. The' screw-thread onthe nozzle j of this socket need not be cut until the cup is to beapplied,when the socket may be chucked in a lathe and the said thread beeut to fit any hole that may be tapped in thel steam-chest for itsreception, and the cup is thus enabled to be adapted to any steam-chestWithout putting it in a lathe and running the risk of breaking the glassor otherwise injuring or marring it.

That I claim as my idvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The construction of agreasecup to effect the supply of grease in ameasured quantity every time the steam is shut off from the eugine bydisplacing such quantity from the cup by a quantity of water resultingfrom the condensation of steam, which is admitted to the cup by the actof letting on steam to the engine, substantially as herein described.

2. The valves F and G and tube D, applied in combination With each otherand with the cup, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. The tube D and nut a, applied, substantially as described, to serveas a means of connecting the different parts of which the cup iscomposed.

4. The atmospheric valve I-I, applied in combination with the cup,substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

5. The independent screw-socket E, applied in combination with the cup,substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

JOHN R. SEES.

Vitnesses:

J onN WHITE, WVM. B. SNYDER.

